Naupaktos (ancient Naupactus), on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, takes its name from the Greek for “shipyard.” It served as an important Athenian naval base during the Peloponnesian War and was the site of two Athenian naval victories over Sparta’s Peloponnesian fleet in 429 BC. In the medieval and early modern periods the town, then known by its Venetian name Lepanto, became strategically important again, changing hands repeatedly between Venetians and Ottomans; it gave its name to the decisive 1571 naval Battle of Lepanto, fought nearby, in which a Christian fleet defeated the Ottoman navy. [Editor’s note: no old-site source material was found for this page. This paragraph was drafted as a placeholder using general reference sources and should be reviewed/expanded by Dr. Siegel.]